Run, Run, Janice
by Chelsea Lynne
Summary: *Christmas short story*  Misguided, Janice receives just what she wanted in her stocking, but not what she needs.  OC versions of Red and Silver.


"Wow, a Poke Ball!" The little girl was so excited as she shoved the ripped papers aside. Christmas morning had never been so good to her before.

"Now, Janice, don't release it in the house," her mother sternly advised.

Janice's father disagreed, ruffling his daughter's red locks. "Aw, come on, Jane. Let the kid have a little fun in her life." He swept his hand through her orange locks, the source of his daughter's. "Besides, you know what will happen if she let's it out outside."

The older woman sighed, "And that's exactly why I insisted against this kind of a gift. But Mister High-and-Mighty gym leader thinks that his child can go around testing the cops."

The man slapped his wife, "How dare you question my decisions? I'll raise my child as I see fit!"

Janice's eyes flickered from her mother to her father; back and force, the two fought on like most other days in their Viridian home. The child held back tears as she plugged her ears, but the shouts rang through. Then, her Murkrow-haired father shoved her mother to the ground.

Fear in her eyes, she grabbed up the box containing her present and fled out the door.

The soft crunches sounded as the snow consumed her bare feet. She held onto her present for dear life as she raced to her backyard, stopping at the base of a tree at the outskirts of the forest. She gazed up, along the path of a rope ladder, to the top branches that housed her treehouse. Taking a deep breath, she pulled the Pokeball out of the box and put the minimized sphere between her teeth, then gripped the icy rungs of the frozen ladder. She inched her way up the tree as gusts continuously threatened to push her towards the ground.

Finally at the top, she spit the Pokeball out of her mouth and pulled the ladder into the treehouse so no one could climb up the slick trunk.

She loved her treehouse. Her father - or, rather, his Pokemon - had built it for her three summers back. It was nestled in the center of a wide oak tree, with branches perfectly parted in the center to contain a small room about the size of an average child, with some coat hooks. She was lucky enough to have kept her yellow thermal up here a few nights before, wrapping her body in the warmth.

Grabbing the Pokeball yet again, she placed it in the oversized coat's pocket and climbed up some two-by-fours nailed to the wall to reach the second level of her treehouse. This are was wide, as the tree's large limbs decided upon themselves to diverge in an almost-circular fashion, leaving tons of space for any seven year-old to indulge in.

Now, on at any other time of year, she would climb a faux rock wall to reach the third level of her treehouse, but that was open-air, and it was too snowy and cold to go that high into the sky.

She waddled over to a red rug near the east wall - indeed, the treehouse had all sorts of built-in educational perks - and plopped down, trying to stop her small frame from shivering, with little success.

Pulling out the shiny red-and-white sphere, she twirled the object in her hands. She'd visited her father's gym on many occasions, so she knew enough about Pokemon. She had always wanted one of her own, since she was old enough to comprehend anything in this world she lived in. Her parents informed her countless times of the laws in place against female trainers. She understood, and backed down for a time.

He spark was reignited, though, just recently. She was sitting in her father's gym, the two were going to have lunch together, Janice had made her specialty - sandwiches made from fresh Magikarp she caught down the lane, and salad composed of the finest Oddish leaves on the market - when a challenger entered the lobby. Her father told Janice to set the picnic basket down, it would only be a few minutes.

Janice hopped onto the counter of the service desk, throwing her feet to hang over the inside edge and dropping to the floor, her red locks the only visible aspect of her. She climbed up onto the swivel chair and worked the computer so she could watch the video feeds of the battle. Another click, and she had audio.

"-again, "Red"." Her father held a mocking tone.

The opposing trainer remained silent. He wore a red square cap, and his black locks rested just below his shoulders. He wore a red, short-sleeved jacket left unzipped over a black short that hugged his every curve.

Huh, Janice thought, his baggy pants showed no contour of his body, the his torso seemed so... Feminine.

Her father seemed to already know what Janice had picked up on, "I'll make a deal with you. This battle will decide your fate. If you win, I'll hand you a badge like all the other trainers that come through here, I'll pat you on the back, and I'll wish you luck in the league.

"But if I win," now a smirk adorned her father's face, "I expose you to the authorities. You will be stripped of your badges, your trainer ID, and all your Pokemon, and you'll be lucky if you aren't sent to jail for your criminal acts."

A chuckle from "Red," then a most-definitely female voice. "You sound like such a hypocrite, Giovanni. Need I remind you of your affiliation - my mistake, your leadership - of Team Rocket? I could expose you and come out as a hero."

"But what would it matter?" Janice's father countered. "Trainer "Red" is already crowned with taking down all of Team Rocket, including their unnamed leader. You would be charged of fraud if you spoke a word, you and I both k ow that. Your hope rides on your Pokemon. I suggest you put your faith in them, because they're all you'll have until I'm through with you."

"Whatever you say, Mr. Rocket."

Janice just felt like punching this Red chick after all the banter between the lease and challenger, but then she recalled she was watching it all through a camera. She would just have to let her father's Pokemon beat this girl for her.

As always, her father was silent when sending out his first Pokemon. Red was no different, just a bit more creative than throwing a capsule. A Pikachu climbed out of the challenger's backpack and jumped from her head into battle, as it's trainer shouted a command, "Shock wave!"

Was this girl stupid? Even Janice, the underaged, uneducated gym daughter, knew electric attacks were useless against her father's specialty ground-type Pokemon. Looking down at he field, Janice was even more stupefied as the attack hit, and knocked the opposing Arbok out cold. How could her father's Pokemon be susceptible to that attack? He used ground-type Pokemon, which meant Arbok must have been a ground-type. But by that Pikachu's attack, that Arbok couldn't be ground-type. But why wasn't her father using a ground-type?

Janice was so confused!

"FELICITY packs a punch, doesn't she?" Red bragged as Giovanni returned his fainted Pokemon, the referee pointing out the obvious. Red and Janice's father must have agreed on a set battle, as the ref didn't offer Red the chance to switch Pokemon.

Giovanni sent out his Nidoking next, and Janice was sure her father would win this round. Nidoking was tough, and Janice had never seen him lose a round.

Red had her grip on one of her belted Pokeballs the entire time, anticipating the start of the round. She pulled it out, maximizing the sphere, and tossed it high, her Pikachu racing to the sidelines and off the battlefield.

Nidoking was clutching the ground in his massive fists, shaking the disconnected battlefield from side to side. The Venasaur that appeared from Red's Pokeball took the hit with ease, as the white spots on flower on it's back glowed brightly. After Nidoking once again shook the floor, the large green dinosaur leaned heavily on its forelegs, the flower's center facing straight at Nidoking. Too slow to remove its grasp on the floor, Nidoking took the burst of light, which filled the whole room with white.

When the color returned, Venasaur was relaxing, while Nidoking was on his back unconcious.

Red just laughed as Giovanni recalled his second Pokemon from a one-hit knockout yet again. "Can I get a challenge this time?" she taunted.

Janice knew her father would send out his Rhydon next. His last chance to win and expose this girl for who she was. Again, Red wasted no time at the opening seconds of the round to switch Pokemon, sending out... An Eevee? What a strange choice, Janice would have expected a Vaporeon up against this rocky opponent. And for whatever reason, Janice regretted to expect her father to lose this final round against Red.

He did, as Red switched out her Eevee after Rhydon charged a take down attack and missed. This time, Red presented a Blastoise to Giovanni's Rhydon. The turtle was ten times faster, and took out the rhinoceros-like Pokemon with a simple water gun.

Janice couldn't believe that this female - with an involved Eevee and Pikachu - had just beat her father. Her father, who, until that day, she had never seen lose a battle.

And all these exposed secrets, about this famous rookie trainer, and about her father, were eye-opening. She lost some respect for her father, and she lost some respect for the rookie. How could someone as strong as herself spend her life hiding her true self?

Ever since that day, Janice had a thirst to battle. She tried visiting the gym almost daily, but her father wouldn't allow it. In fact, she'd noticed him taking a lot of days off lately. Then again, it was the holiday, but still. Usually her father worked with vigor, but ever since that battle against Red, he'd lost that spark to him. This new trend only strengthened her wishes, hoping she could help rejuvenate that flame within him if she could just battle his daughter. If he could be proud of his daughter. And now, seven years old, she had a Pokemon. She could start her journey. She could go into the Viridian Forest without any fear, and could trek down to Route 22 to fish, rather than confining to the small pond down the road.

She clicked the button on the sphere, maximizing the Pokeball. With a gulp, she tossed the capsule lightly into the air. A white light formed the shape of a small round-eared creature before the Pokemon appeared before her. It looked like some of those fake Poke dolls the shops sometimes sold, like purple Mankey plushes, or yellow-adorned Butterfree. But this, this was lime nothing she'd heard of before.

Its ears were large circles, yet still proportional to its head. It had a stout body, with Raichu-like hands, and an orange ribbon was tied in a bow around its neck. Carefully undoing the ribbon, wary of the mysterious Pokemon, she read the small note attached:

JANICE, I FOUND HER WHILE SCOUTING OUT Mt. Silver. SHE REMINDED ME OF YOU, AND SHE'S ONE OF MANY EXPECTED POKEMON TO BE DISCOVERED IN THE CAVE. HOPE YOU HAVE FUN WITH HER! -FATHER

"Looks like you're mine, now. I'll name you... Lola."

The new Pokemon inspected the area closely, sniffing at the floor. She ran to the west wall, looking out a low window towards a snowy mountain horizon in the distance. Then, she let out a high-pitched wail.

Alarmed, Janice rushed over to her Pokemon, hugging the monster close. "Lola, don't cry!" Janice looked out the window herself, "That's Mt. Silver. That's where Father caught you. You're in Viridian now. I'm Janice, it's a pleasure to make your aqcuantaince."

Smiling, Janice looked into Lola's deep eyes, extending her sleeve for a handshake. Lola sniffed at the limb, then grabbed it with both her stubby hands, putting Janice's hand into her mouth. "Lola!" Janice exclaimed, tugging her slobbery hand away from the Pokemon. "No, you don't suck on it!" After drying her hand off, Janice gently grasped one of Lola's paws, then demonstrated a handshake. "This means "hello"."

The Pokemon looked innocently into Janice's eyes, then walked away. She went to the bookshelf and pulled off a book, putting it into her mouth.

Janice immediately started disciplining her Lola, but every time she corrected the Pokemon, Lola found something else to misbehave with.

Without any other option, Janice returned Lola to her Pokeball. "What a hassle."

She jumped down to the lower level of her treehouse, and threw the ladder down. Pocketing the Pokeball, she slowly lowered herself down the rungs of the ladder. She had difficulty with gripping the rungs with her shoes, and soon enough, the expected occurred.

Janice slipped, first her feet fell from the icy ladder. She hung from her hands for a few seconds, but the weight of her body was far too great for her nimble fingers to hold up. The cold bit into her fingertips until she let go from the icy pain.

Free-falling looked so fun in movies, but she wasn't falling from a Pidgeot's clutch, and she had no parachute to ensure her safety. She clenched her eyes shut, as images of everyone she'd ever seen passed over the insides of her eyelids. Every memory was unlocked, along with every emotion that went with them. She recalled her mother, father, all her friends. The sleeping man by the pond down yonder, the old coffee guy next door. She saw every trainer that she'd ever seen walk into her father's gym, leaving empty-handed.

She remembered Red. The determined smirk she held as she tore Janice's father apart, Pokemon by Pokemon. She despised Red, blamed Red. Red caused her father to give up. Caused Janice's reignited want for a Pokemon. If that Red girl had never fought her father, Janice wouldn't be in this situation at all. Knowing the snow below her wasn't even up to her knees, Janice knew she wouldn't get up from this fall.

The howling wind around her suddenly stopped. She felt a strange presence engulfing her, tickling her insides and warming her outsides with the soft hum the sensation gave off. Opening her eyes, she saw the wooden floor of her treehouse above her, and saw a translucent purple film around her. She slowly grew farther and farther from the wood above her, and was dropped.

Janice ended her fall with a bounce off a Snorlax's stomach. Looking toward the ground, she saw a Persian-like creature. It was purple, and it had a red gem on its forehead, like a Meowth's coin, and its tail split in two at the tip.

Janice dismounted the Snorlax's belly, and the large creature turned a translucent red, then disappeared into a Pokeball. A Pokeball in the hand of a red-clad trainer.

"Hey, you're Giovanni's kid, right?" Red offered, extending her hand.

Janice shook it cautiously, "Come to cream my father at the gym again?" she bit.

Red laughed, "Yeah right. I feel bad enough, I heard I ran him out of business. Nah, I've been training up at Mt. Silver, thought I'd come down and visit the good ole Centre. The one they built by the mountain never gets any visits."

Janice retracted her hand to avoid crushing Red's in an anger grip. She grinned, "Just remember to zip up the jacket before you go inside! And, um, thanks for that save. I owe you, I guess."

"Hey, don't mention it, kid. Maybe in a couple years, they'll repeal the laws, and then you can follow in your daddy's footsteps." And with that final word, Red tipped her hat and walked away, zipping up her loose jacket along the way.

Janice pulled the Pokeball from her pocket, studying her reflection. With a determined smirk, she gripped the ball tighter and ran toward where Red had come from, speeding through the unsupervised gate and out into the dangerous world. 


End file.
